User blog:JohnnyOTGS/JohnnyTalk: Johnny declares war.
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of JohnnyTalk. Today I am offocially declaring war. Okay, not really, but I would like to talk about some of the surprising references of wars from the video game: Advance Wars. Based on the Japan exclusive Nintendo game: Super Famicom Wars, Advance Wars is about some turn-based strategy with using units to defeat your opponent as well as capturing cities and bases. But you probably didn't know that there are some suprising references about wars in this game, mainly World War 2. Orange Star Orange Star is the main faction that you will play as in the game as the COs (Commanding Officers) you can play as are from this faction. The Orange Star faction is an obvious reference to the United States. Now the COs are what is shown as evidence. Andy Andy is the game's main protagonist and commands a very well balanced army. Though, he looks more like an overly eager 10-year old. But his love for mechanics is what also reflects America's production capabilities (only second to the Soviet Union during World War 2). Max Max is another Orange Star CO, and his tactic is brute force with direct units such as tanks. Again this reflects America occasionally using the same tactics Max likes to utilize. Sami One of the fewest female COs in the game. Sami's reflect on American military might is actually reflected in American miliatry movies as Sami is a direct reference to Sylvester Stallone's character John J. Rambo as in this particular image shown, Sami wears a tank top and is carrying a M-60 Machine Gun that was used by Rambo in the movies. Blue Moon Another known faction in the game. It has a bitter rivalry with the Orange Star Faction and it's superior CO: Olaf wants nothing more than to see the destruction of Orange Star. Blue Moon is a direct reference to the Soviet Union (Russia) as the faction has a rivalry with Orange Star which reflects the USSR's rivalry with the United States during the Cold War. Olaf Now, it's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly how Olaf references Russia. This is because in the Japanese version, Olaf's appearence is similar to Santa Claus. But his appearence was changed in the localized version where a Russian Officer hat replaces the Santa Hat and his facial hair is changed from white to brown. But his CO Power: Blizzard covers the entire battlefield in snow, which references Russia's often cold environment. Grit Grit was once with Orange Star but defected to Blue Moon. This is a direct reference to conspiracy theories about a World War 2 veteran: Lee Harvey Oswald who is infamous with the assassination of American President: John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It is said by some that Oswald had defected to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Grit also excells in long range non-direct combat and his CO Power: Snipe Attack increases the range of his Non-Drect units, both reflect Oswald's use of a Sniper Rifle to assassinate Kennedy. Another semi-reference to American defection that Grit has is in the Japanese version of the game, he had a Cowboy hat on, but in the Localized versions, the Cowboy hat was replaced with one worn by a Soviet Solider. Yellow Comet Yellow Comet has arguably the best trained army in Cosmo Land, and it's supreme CO: Kanbei, gives his foes every good reason to fear his skills. Yellow Comet has a lot of references to Japan. The Yellow Comet's CO's HQ looks like a Japanese Castle, heck the nation run by Yellow Comet looks like the 4 main islands of Japan. The faction's forces also have the look of Imperial Japanese forces during World War 2. Kanbei Kanbei basically screams Japanese reference. His face resembles one of Japan's most powerful and notable Samurai: Nobunaga Oda. In the Japanese version of the game, Kanbei was dressed to resemble more of a Samurai with Samurai Armor, a Samurai Topknot and a short Katana along with his other Katana (called "Daisho"). This was changed in the localized version to resemble more of a Imperial Japanese officer during World War 2. Sonja Kanbei's daughter. Sonja is a reflection of modern Japanese people as she's an intel officer and is a firm believer in "Mind over Muscle". Her way of thinking constantly clashes with her father's way of thinking. Very much like how Modern Japanese people sometimes clash with old Japanese people who think more traditionally. In the Japanese version of the game, Sonja appeared to be more of a Modern Japanese Schoolgirl, this was changed in the localized version to look more like a Modern Japanese intel officer, again reflecting on her Modern way of thinking in contrast to her father's traditional way of thinking. Green Earth Another faction in the game where it has a diversity of forces ranging from Naval Forces to Air Forces. The CO: Eagle is quite arrogant and will do anything to stop Andy. Green Earth has a lot of British Military references and the evidence is clearly in the faction's COs Eagle The arrogant Air force Commando of Green Earth. He has a direct hatred for Andy. Now, his specialty is definitely air units which reflect on an actual battle of World War 2 called the Battle of Britain, a battle known mostly for air-to-air combat. Drake Drake is Green Earth's Naval officer. In the Japanese version of the game, Drake's appearence is that of a pirate with a full headed bandana and a 18th century pirate's jacket, this was changed in the localized version to more of a Naval officer look. His pirate appearence and his name is a reference to the imfamous pirate Sir Francis Drake who went all over the carribean and raided ships from other European countries. Black Hole The evil faction in the series. The faction clearly responsible for bringing the previous 4 factions to war. Black Hole is a direct reference to Nazi Germany, as it's an evil faction that has no value for human life. Now, most of it's units are sci-fi based. But there is some real historical significance to Germany's military. In both World Wars, Germany had arguably the best war technology around that could help Germany achieve victory. Sturm The game's main antagonist. Eventhough Sturm has the appearence of an Alien robot, but his clothes resemble Nazi Germany as some Nazi soldiers had some kind of cape, though most of their hats are the High-Peak variety. His name is also German for "Storm", but as in "Storming the Castle" not "Thunderstorm" Category:Blog posts